It was too fun to be true.
Celebrity watchers went berserk last Thursday when a photo surfaced on Reddit that appeared to show a pink hoodie-clad Justin Bieber sitting on a park bench, scarfing down a burrito the wrong way. As in, from the middle, as if he were eating an ear of corn.
"Look at him eat a burrito like he’s never seen food before," Vanity Fair railed.
"Here is Justin Bieber eating a burrito much like a demon might eat a small child," Jezebel summed up.
Many news sites cast doubt (including USA TODAY), scrutinizing his hair (too blond) and eyebrows (too well-groomed), but nonetheless had a field day mocking the "Sorry" singer's wrap-eating strategy.
Sadly, the truth was revealed in a detailed debunking video, titled "We Fooled the Internet w/ Fake Justin Bieber Burrito Photo," posted Sunday by a group called Yes Theory.
The YouTube tricksters claimed responsibility for the elaborate prank, saying they recruited Canadian Bieber lookalike Brad Sousa to commit the crime against food.
In an Instagram video, Scooter Braun, Bieber's manager, took credit for outing the pranksters by (briefly) pretending he thought the image was real.
"I had so many people hitting me, saying, 'Why is your boy eating a burrito like this?' " says Braun. In a matter of seconds, he says, the group's manager called him to come clean.